POT GROWER DODGES JAIL TERM

Growing pot for medical marijuana crusader Grant Krieger won't mean
jail for a former Calgary man, a judge ruled yesterday.

Justice Beth Hughes agreed with defence lawyer Adriano Iovinelli that
jail time wasn't necessary for Mark James Maki's involvement with the
Compassion Club.

"Mr. Maki's motivation for these offences, while certainly against
the law and misguided, were to assist the Compassion Club and it's
members," Hughes said.

The 577 plants seized in October 2001 and February 2002 had a value
of about $600,000 to $800,000, and a loaded sawed-off shotgun was
found in Maki's home.

Maki, 43, of Coquitlam, B.C., pleaded guilty to two charges of
cultivating marijuana and one of careless storage of a firearm.

Hughes placed him in on house arrest for a year, followed by a curfew
for another 12 months.